Happy Boxing Day Blizzard

So, what a Christmas, eh? Christmas Eve was clear and fun, good food, good folk, we even sang Christmas Carols for the first time in years. Driving out to Huntington, the moon hung low and big and beautiful in the sky. Christmas Day I got up rather late, then loaded my car with bags of gifts and Christmas cookies before setting off to my brother’s house in Jersey. I put out an extra litter box and extra food for the kitties (whom I would leave alone for a full 24 hours for the first time).

Leaving later than planned, I went out to the car and discovered a flat tire. Front right. I thought it had felt a little funny driving home from the Island Christmas Eve. Sigh.

The closest gas-service station is just around the corner, but its service aspect was closed. It being Christmas and all. So I called AAA. Blessings upon this fellow Jamel, who showed up within 17 minutes of my call, changed the tire, gave me some advice about those little metal things and their rubber caps (without the rubber caps, they little metal things may freeze and make it impossible to put air in the tires. Beware.) He took my broken tire to a station on Hillside (I’ve been there before, they’re the closest AAA station), where I said I’d come first thing Monday to get the repaired tire or, if need be, a new one. It looked pluggable to me. Let’s hope for one less expense.

Off I went to my brother’s place for Christmas dinner. My brother lives a 50-minute drive away, or an hour with traffic. Somehow found myself going 80 on a road where one oughtn’t, but not doing it alone, so I got to my destination in 30 minutes. All around a lovely day until the rumbles of a coming blizzard got louder. My nephew lives down in Arlington, Virginia, where, no matter what the Governor may say on the Weather Channel, they really suck at dealing with snow on the roadways. Should he start out Christmas night, and miss the Sunday Giants game he and his father had planned to watch together? Or wait for his originally planned Monday, which would make everybody happy. Except for the worry that he wouldn’t be able to drive into Virginia when those sanders and snowplows didn’t show up – wouldn’t be the first time.

Alas for my poor brother, my nephew’s wise choice was to drive down in the middle of the night. A lot of fast driving this Christmas, because he made it home in about four hours, when the trip should take an easy five. He beat the snow to Virginia by a few hours, so at least he was safe at home when the storm swept through.


This morning I drove home as the flurries began. In Jersey they were pretty light, but crossing the Hudson the snow came down harder. Home in Queens before noon, and had the pleasure of watching the "Doctor Who Christmas Carol" with a cuppa tea with honey in it and my honeys (a.k.a. cats) around me. Took a nice walk around 3 this afternoon, when visibility was about half a block. Not terribly cold with the wind at my back, but rough stuff when I turned around! I’m looking forward to shoveling tomorrow, a fun way to do some cardio – taking breaks of course. More importantly, shoveling the stoop and walkway makes me deserving of hot chocolate. When I go get my tire, of course, will depend on just how much snow we get.


The cats are happy to have me back, not having starved to death overnight, or resorted to cannibalism. They didn’t even destroy anything. So despite obstacles, we must mark this down as a pretty good Christmas.

Hope yours was happy,

~ Molly Matera, signing off. Ready for snow angels.